According
to police, enough evidence was found during their investigation to try
Elon for alleged sexual assault by force as well as sexual assault of
minors.

Mordechai Elon at home in February in the northern community of Migdal.

Photo by: Tomer Appelbaum

The
incident began with Takana, a forum dedicated to preventing sexual
harassment by prominent religious figures, on the basis of complaints
of alleged sexual relations between Rabbi Elon and minors that they had
accumulated.

The
Takana Forum revealed details of the complaints that they received in
the past from students of Rabbi Elon. "One of the first complaints
submitted to the forum was against Rabbi Mordechai Elon," the group
wrote on its Web site. "One claim accused him of sexual exploitation by
an individual with religious authority. These are grave acts that are
not open to any other interpretation."

During
an investigation, police located the boy who agreed to give testimony
detailing the sexual assault which he allegedly experienced at the
hands of Rabbi Elon which occurred between 2005 and 2006, when the boy
was a minor.

Additional
investigation revealed evidence bolstering the boy’s claims.
Consequently, Weinstein recommended the launch of a criminal
investigation against Elon. During the criminal investigation, police
located another boy who also alleged that Elon had sexually assaulted
him when he was a minor.

Rabbis
close to Takana, the group that originally alleged sexual misconduct on
the part of Elon, had said in March that police were not pressing
charges against the educator because Takana had promised
confidentiality to Elon’s former students who had complained.